A taste of fall

Winds picked up across the Okanagan and Shuswap Thursday morning as a cold front swept the area — a sign that a new season is afoot.

According to Alyssa Charbonneau with Environment Canada, the southerly winds will continue throughout the day gusting between 40 to 50 kilometres an hour in some regions.

“To the south around Kelowna, it will likely not be as dramatic but still expect those winds to continue throughout the day and ease off this evening,” she said.

In the Shuswap, Environment Canada has issued a special weather statement for strong gusty winds and a chance of a thunderstorm which could increase winds to 80 km/hr. There is also a possibility of a heavy downpour in the area.

A special weather statement is also in place for the Coquihalla Highway from Merritt to Kamloops, as the cold front continues through central and southern B.C. bringing the same strong winds and heavy rain that could occur in the Shuswap.

Thursday’s high of 25 C in the Central Okanagan is a far cry from Wednesday’s 33 C weather.

Clouds are expected in the Central and South Okanagan, while a 30 per cent chance of showers is forecast for the North.

“A much cooler air mass is moving in and it will stick with us for the next couple of days, with temperatures around 23 C,” said Charbonneau.

Despite the dip in temperature and the chance of rain, Charbonneau explained summer isn’t quite over yet.

“Once we get into the weekend a ridge builds back in and the temperatures will climb back up to the high 20s C and 29 C – 30 C for Monday and Tuesday next week.”

However, come Wednesday, the temperatures are expected to drop again and the clouds will roll back in.